Huw Davies

Huw Davies grew up in Nantyffyllon, near Maesteg, and studied English in Birmingham Polytechnic. He returned to Wales and became an English teacher, working in schools in Cardiff, Penywaun, Cymer Afan, Machynlleth, Cardigan and Llandysul. He always wanted to be a writer, but it took him a while to realise that to be a writer he would actually need to do some writing. With this in mind he did an MA in Scriptwriting at the University of Glamorgan where he learned about how to structure a story.

As an English teacher, he came to realise that there was a lack of what he called 'daft books for daft boys,' and it was at this point he decided to start work on Scrambled. It is set in the fictional town of Maesunig, which is loosely based on Maesteg, Nantyffyllon and Cymer. It is the story of a a quiet boy who bonds with his boisterous father when he discovers his talent for riding a scrambler, and how this comes at a price.

He is a member of the bilingual Gonzo Power Pop outfit Nimrodsound, a unit so successful that they once supported a band who had a song used on an advertisement on TV (he thinks it was for a car but it could have been for slug pellets). He lives in the town of Carmarthen with his wife and two children, where he has embraced middle-age by taking up running, and can often be seen bent over and wretching on the dual carriageway to St Clears.

He has completed his second novel, Sheared, set in the worlds of competitive sheep shearing and rock music (the working title was Shave Hard but he was persuaded it sounded too much like the title of a dodgy film). His translation of the novel into Welsh Sgramblo was released by Firefly Press in 2018, and he has adapted it as a screenplay in both languages. He also wrote for BBC Wales' The Tourist Trap, featuring Sally Phillips, and has started writing a sequel to Scrambled.

His latest book Ben Llestri a'r Bwced Ych-A-Fi (Y Lolfa, 2021) is a collaboration with the illustrator Lowri Roberts for younger readers.